1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure is related to the field of equipment used in the sport of baseball, in particular to portable pitching mounds.
2. Description of Related Art
The game of baseball takes place on a baseball diamond or what is colloquially referred to as a “ball field.” During a baseball game, a pitcher throws or “pitches” a baseball over a plate known as home plate which a batter stands besides, attempting to strike the pitched baseball with a bat. The rules governing the sport of baseball require that the pitcher throw the baseball from an upraised portion of the playing field called a pitcher's mound. Generally, the low artificial hill on a baseball field which functions as the pitcher's mound is roughly in the middle of the diamond, equidistant between first and third base, closer to home plate than second base.
Baseball's governing rules require that, for a pitch to be valid, the pitcher must have one foot in contact with a slab installed on the pitcher's mound, known as the pitcher's plate or “rubber.” The size and relative deposition of elements of a baseball field, such as home plate, the rubber and the pitcher's mound are specified in the rules. Generally these rules regarding the elements of the baseball field vary depending on the league or level of the game. For example, the mandated size and relative deposition of these elements might differ at the Major League Baseball, college, high school and little league levels. For example, in Major League Baseball, a regulation pitching mound is generally 18 feet in diameter and at most about 10.5 inches high, with the center about 59 feet from the rear of home plate, on the line between home plate and second base.
The exact shape and composition of a pitching mound can have a considerable effect on a pitcher's actions and his ability to pitch a baseball. As a pitcher pitches on a mound, his leading foot will land at a position significantly lower than his trailing foot. Further, due to the height of the mound, the pitcher is pitching down to the batter. In addition, the interaction between the pitching mound and a pitcher's body weight, also known as the “give” of the mound, can have an effect on a pitcher's delivery. For these reasons, pitchers generally develop certain habits based on the shape, composition and feel of the mound.
In the off-season, it is generally common for baseball players to practice indoors in a gymnasium or other indoor facility. Often when practicing in these environments, pitching practice will take place on a level floor. This can be awkward for the pitcher and, due to the inherent differences in shape, composition and feel, can detrimentally affect his or her pitching style. Accordingly, there is a need for a portable, easy-to-utilize pitcher's mound that can be used in an indoor training environment to simulate a traditional pitcher's mound.
Further, the advent and improvement of artificial turf on baseball fields has also given rise to the need for portable or permanent artificial pitching mounds. Currently utilized artificial pitching mounds generally consist of actual dirt, which can decompose the artificial turf around the existing pitching mound, thus damaging the turf field and creating costly repairs. In addition, traditional dirt pitching mounds are notoriously difficult to maintain for groundskeepers, usually requiring a watering-down prior to games to keep dust and dirt from spreading. This increased maintenance can drive up the costs of caring for a baseball field and create a certain variability regarding the integrity of the baseball mound from game-to-game or even from inning-to-inning.
While portable pitcher's mounds have been developed and are known in the art, these previously utilized prior devices have a number of shortcomings. For example, generally these known portable pitching mounds are primarily designed for indoor use; i.e., they are not designed to adapt to and integrate into a traditional grass or artificial turf baseball field. Many of these already known and used designs in the art, when utilized in a traditional or artificial turf baseball field, fail to smoothly integrate with the field, thus creating a lip or edge on the field around the circumference of the portable mound. This lip or edge can interfere with and effect live play. This lip or edge can also create safety issues for the pitchers and other players and officials on the field. For example, the bounce of a baseball striking this edge could be erratic and therefore not representative of the result that would be obtained from the ball striking a clay or earth mound. Further, these bad bounces caused by the lip or edge could catch a player or official off-guard, leading to injury. These lips or edges are also a safety hazard in that players and officials can trip and fall over these irregularities in the field.
A further disadvantage of the portable pitcher's mounds of the prior art is that their surface and composition is dissimilar from that of traditional mounds which are formed from earth or clay. Many of these known portable pitching mound devices are comprised of simply a board or layer of material with nothing underneath. This type of constriction creates a portable pitcher's mound that is either inadequately rigid or overly rigid, providing either too much flex or not enough flex, thereby interfering with the accuracy of a pitcher's delivery and throw. Further, these portable mounds can have a surface that is harder than that of traditional dirt or clay mounds. These mounds can create a hazard to the safety of a pitcher in certain circumstances where, when struck by a baseball in play, they do not absorb as much of the impact as a traditional mound and run the risk of deflecting the ball up and potentially injuring the pitcher. In addition, a pitcher can turn an ankle if he hits the lip incorrectly during play. Moreover these portable mounds are often manufactured from plywood, aluminum, steel or concrete materials which, due to their rigidity, can be dangerous and may cause injuries to baseball players and also create damage to artificial turf fields.
Finally, the mounds of the prior art with an interchangeable hub-and-spoke design, by their inherent structure, create seams between the push off mound and the landing area. These seams near the rubber and the pitcher's push off and landing areas alter the strength and integrity of this portion of the mound, areas which must be of ultimate strength to properly support a pitcher's weight and the sifting thereof. Further, there can be separation at these seams which can interfere with a pitcher's wind-up and release and, in certain circumstances, can cause slippage by the pitcher. In addition, the “spoke” pie-shaped pieces of the mound in these prior art structures are interchangeable. Thus, by design, the rubber of these mounds must be in the center or middle of the circle. This structure varies from the traditional mound utilized in Major League Baseball and at the college and high school levels where, while the mound is a circle, the rubber is actually behind the center point of the mound.